Typical multibeam antennas, such as phased arrays and multibeam reflectors are bulky and/or highly inefficient. Large visibility can be can be problematic in commercial as well as military systems.
Fixed beam antennas might need to be mechanically or electronically rotated to be able to communicate with various targets at various times.
One of the challenges in the design of planar lenses in the present invention is to achieve a high azimuthal radiation pattern taper for the excitation element. This is important to minimize mutual coupling between excitation ports and spillover in the illumination of the aperture of interest. Since these devices are supposed to operate in a parallel plate and partially dielectric filled environment, the excitation radiation pattern optimization is improved with the present invention. In one embodiment. The proper illumination of the aperture sector of interest may include an increased directivity feed.
Advantages of various embodiments of the invention include an antenna having a low-volume, highly more efficient than traditional electronically scanned phased arrays efficient, with coverage of the entire 360 degrees of azimuth or selected angular sectors. Other advantages include multiple beam functionality (i.e. can communicate with multiple targets in the same time), and coverage of microwave or millimeter wave frequencies over a wide bandwidth. The antenna may track multiple targets while the antenna is mounted on a moving platform. The antenna can be deployed on the bottom of an aircraft to look down for air-to-ground communications or to look up for satellite communication. The invention may further include being a cost effective substitute for a phased array antenna.